Waking Up in the Hospital Wing
by notimportantorami
Summary: Just a one shot where Harry can't figure out why he's in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. A tad on the darker side. Time travel. No pairings.
Harry Potter sat in the hospital wing. It wasn't much different than any other time he'd randomly woken up there, blearily looking around, trying to remember what had put him there. Except for the fact that he couldn't. He couldn't remember what had happened to put him there. So, he sat.

It was a few moments later that Madam Pomfrey left her office and Harry began to realize that something was wrong. She was different in some way. He couldn't really put a finger on it, he hadn't seen her in years. She looked kinder, in a way, less troubled.

"Oh!" She startled, "you're awake. The wards should have alerted me immediately." She waved her wand and worried her bottom lip, obviously put out by the ineffectual nature of her magic. Harry had disabled them as soon as he had woken up. Something he had learned to do after his third time being captured by Voldemort when he realized it was the wards that brought the Death Eaters down to his cell.

"Well, it's no matter. The headmaster wishes to speak with you and you seem to be alright to me. I'll call him down here," Pomfrey said brightly.

Harry frowned. Poppy Pomfrey was not this cheerful and a sense of foreboding began to creep up his spine. He, again, wondered how he'd gotten to the Hospital Wing. The last thing he remembered he wasn't even near Hogwarts.

He noticed that Pomfrey was looking at him expectantly. Apparently, he was supposed to say something.

"What happened?" He asked hoarsely. His voice had all but given up on him after the fifth time he had been captured by Voldemort and, in turn, he had given up on it after the death of Hermione and Ron.

"Oh! We were hoping you could tell us. You appeared on the front steps five days ago with nothing but some tattered robes. That's why the headmaster is so keen to speak with you. You aren't supposed to be able to apparate inside Hogwarts grounds, you see." Pomfrey smiled and Harry frowned at her. Maybe he had been captured by Voldemort again and this was his latest trick. He squinted around him. If it was a charm, it was a very good one but that was magic, he supposed.

"I can't have apparated. It _is_ impossible. Someone must have dropped me there. When will the headmaster be here?" Harry had no idea who the headmaster was now. He had stopped caring about the events at Hogwarts after the Carrows had killed Ginny in her sixth year. He knew it wasn't Snape as the man had been killed by Voldemort for supposedly being a traitor. Harry figured it was some new death eater and a small part of him told him he should run while he had the chance but an even larger part of him believed the whole thing to be a charade set up by Voldemort to play with him, anyway. He wondered if a death eater would allow Pomfrey to still work in the Hospital Wing. He wasn't sure if she had been a part of the order or not but she had helped him enough that Voldemort probably wasn't too impressed.

"I am here now, it seems," said a kind voice and Harry didn't look over. He recognized the voice, of course. How could he not after so many hours alone with the man? Despite the fact that the man in question was dead, it was almost a relief to hear his voice again. It also cemented the idea that this was all a ruse by Voldemort into his head.

"Dumbledore," he returned, nodding his head. Crazy ploy or not, following wherever this was going was much better than the future torture that surely awaited him once they realized that he knew.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, dear boy. Tell me, what is your name?"

Harry smiled and turned to look at Dumbledore for the first time. He was shocked, to say the least, but he didn't show it. Dumbledore was much younger than when he'd last seen him. He even still had some auburn running through his hair. Why would Voldemort make Dumbledore younger than he had ever seen him? Further more, why would he pretend to not recognize Harry? What purpose did this all serve?

"I'm Harry Potter," he said simply and watched the fake Dumbledore for his reaction.

His eyes widened fractionally and Harry realized that he was confused. It wasn't something that anyone else would have picked up but Harry knew this man -or at least he knew the man they were pretending to be.

"Are you of any relation to James Potter?" He asked smiling again, "He will be a fifth year year starting in August."

Harry snorted. So that's what this was. Some deception to make him believe he'd get a chance to meet his parents. Cruel trick, Voldemort, but he supposed it came with the territory. Be that as it may, he was done playing.

"You can stop now. I know. You're some plant by Voldemort. We may as well stop this now and get on with the "fun" part of the day." He said derisively.

"I assure you, Mr. Potter, I am not working with Voldemort. You are at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where I am the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. You appeared a few days ago on our front steps and we have graciously nursed you back to health. If you were with Voldemort before, you certainly aren't now," Dumbledore frowned.

Harry laughed. Apparently, being found out had pissed the "old man" off.

"Okay then, what's your favorite kind of jam?" He asked smiling.

Dumbledore looked confused for a second before slowly saying, "Raspberry, or course."

Harry stopped smiling. Anyone could know that he supposed.

"What's your favorite candy?"

"Sherbet Lemons." Obvious, he supposed.

"And your favorite colour?"

"I've always been quite fond of plum."

"What's your sister's name?"

Dumbledore hesitated and Harry smiled. He knew that would stump the actor. Very few people knew of Dumbledore's sister and he was pretty sure those that did were dead or near dead.

"Ariana," Dumbledore said. Harry whipped his head around to stare at him. How could he have known? Who had told him?

"I can assure you, Mr. Potter, I am who I say I am. Now I really must insist on knowing how you know these things," Dumbledore frowned. Harry still didn't believe him. He wasn't in the past. That was ridiculous but he wasn't going to sit around and play games anymore.

"Well, thank you for -what did you say?- graciously nursing me back to health but I must be leaving now. If you'll excuse me." He

"Mr. Potter, we still don't know how you managed to apparate onto school grounds. You are free to go, of course, but we would greatly appreciate it if you told us of some error in our wards that allowed you to do so," Dumbledore said. Harry stopped his so far fruitless search for his wand and turned to look at Dumbledore.

"Did you say that I was free to go?" He asked. Voldemort wouldn't just let him go and he couldn't have created a whole world for Harry to live in. There were limits to everything, even magic. Further more, he didn't think Voldemort would want to put forth the effort.

"Certainly, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, looking scandalized, "We can't force you to stay here against your will but we would greatly appreciate your help in regards to the apparition wards. Also, Madam Pomfrey has your wand. She keeps them so no one accidentally hurts themselves."

Harry stared at Dumbledore for a second and said, "I want to leave Hogwarts. I'm afraid I don't know how I got here and I can't help you with your wards."

Dumbledore seemed disappointed and despite the fact that Harry still didn't really believe this Dumbledore, he still felt rather badly for letting the man down.

"Very well," he said, "We will return your items to you and you are free to leave as you please. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter. Perhaps sometime you will come and speak with me about Ariana." Dumbledore nodded at Madam Pomfrey and left the Hospital Wing.

After he left and Madam Pomfrey gave him his things, significantly less friendly than before probably because he'd been rude to the headmaster, Harry Potter left Hogwarts.

He apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and made his way to Diagon Alley. It looked the same but Harry was confused. It made no sense that he was back in time but, looking at the Daily Prophet he had found on the street, it appeared to be true. There was no way Voldemort could have fabricated at this level of detail and size. How, was his first question, closely followed by: why?

To make things better, he had offended the one person who could probably help him the most: Albus Dumbledore. He supposed Dumbledore had actually invited him back to talk and he knew that his future Dumbledore would have understood his caution in the beginning but would his younger self?

Sighing, he considered his options. He was nobody, not even born yet. His parents were fifteen. He had no money. He had his vault key but his trust didn't even exist yet and he couldn't really go into the Potter vaults without alerting the Potters of this time. He could go tell Dumbledore everything but he got the feeling that Dumbledore wasn't too fond of him.

He sighed again. He had already told Dumbledore that his name was Harry Potter. So he couldn't change that now but everything else was still in the dark. Dumbledore was smart though and Harry looked like James Potter and knew an awful lot about Dumbledore's personal life. Dumbledore might be able to figure it out anyway.

Dumbledore could help him defeat Voldemort once and for all. They could save his parents. But would Dumbledore trust Harry after the way he'd acted in Hogwarts.

Harry groaned. He hated making important decisions. He came back to the fact that he had no money. No money meant no place to stay. So he either went and told Dumbledore everything and hoped he let him stay at Hogwarts for a while or he told Dumbledore nothing and lived on the streets until he found a job to support him.

He frowned and left Diagon Alley, telling himself that he loved his Dumbledore and if there was anyone who would forgive him it would be Albus Dumbledore.

So, Harry Potter returned to Hogwarts.


End file.
